Oh the thrill of a new toy

Hey everyone. Long time rider but absolute noob tinkerer. Earlier this month picked up a 83 750 Midnight Maxim. It was in pretty good condition about 12k miles (i'll choose to believe it was owned and hardly ridden - sin - and not had its mileage adjusted). Anyway, beginning to dig in a bit. Starting with the easy stuff. Swapped out an old water/acid battery, cleaned out the gas tank. Guy I bought it from cleaned the carbs (good enough he said, so..) and put new boots on it so I'm staying away from that till i get a little better at this. ANYWAY, I've got a sticky tachometer. Sometimes it doesn't work at all, sometimes it does - but when that happens it hits an RPM and that's where it stays no matter what. So here's my questions before i dig in:

1. is it run through the fuse electrical system? and if so my fuses (glass) have long lost their lables.
2. what are the odds the needle mechanism is just old and done for and putting on a new tach is the answer.

(FYI it lights up no problem as far as I can see).

here for the banter. I've spent the last month just reading it.

 

fuses should be replaced with a blade style fuse box

Main fuse 20 amp
Headlight fuse 10 amp
ignition fuse 10 amp
signal fuse 10 amp
https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/how-to-install-an-aftermarket-fuse-box.6350/

i think thats the order

there is a thread on tach repair
bigfitz's Seca 550 Instrument Cluster Teardown
adjust your valves then go from there
Bigfitz's AIRHEAD VALVE ADJUSTMENT with Pics - parts I & II
midnight is a nice set up

the tach runs off of the ignition coil primary side so it is controled by ignition fuse but thats not the problem.

the 650 electronic tach is the same beast,

 

check your rear brake shoes

 

Blade style fuse box in the mail as we speak! thanks for the heads up. Appreciate the point about tilting downward for easier access. that's gonna be my step one. Once i get that in place it's time to hit up the valve adjustment and I'll be back to talk brake shoes!

 

Stopping > going.
Be careful.

 

Bigfitz's cluster tear down is for a cable driven tach. I know it is mentioned that the tach on the 83xjm may be the same as the electronic 650, but not the same as the 550 cable driven. The electronic tach's are delicate and sensitive. I lubricated the needle on mine and have had far better responsiveness since. I know there is discussion somewhere on here about other ideas for increasing the tach responsiveness. My bike's tach (same bike by the way) performed the same; slow and sometimes not at all prior to lubricating.